臺大管理論叢 NTU Management Review VOL.29 NO.1

Choose Foreign R&D Partners From Right Pools: A Synthesis Framework 106 incentive for cooperation and the potential risks which may inhibit cooperation will be stronger in the case of a firm’s collaboration with its competitors. When the focal firm is to partner for the R&D collaboration under the exploitative strategy, the purpose of alliance is more likely to enhance its existing competency by gaining complementary or progressive knowledge to combine with its existing knowledge base. The firm will focus on the “D” in the research and development process. Such an exploitative alliance can be characterized by forming a union among complementors (Rothaermel and Deeds, 2004), suppliers, or customers. The effective knowledge combination and transfer become crucial for the success of collaboration. From the organizational learning theory, Grant (1996) claims for the importance of the three foundations of knowledge: the knowledge transferability, the capacity for aggregation for which the absorptive capacity (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990) is crucial, and the appropriability. In the R&D collaboration, complementary knowledge, resources and capabilities from partners will increase the opportunities of the focal firm for new combinations of its existing knowledge. When the focal firm has a sufficient overlap of knowledge with its R&D collaborators, it will have better absorptive capacity to digest and internalize the external knowledge from its collaborators (Chang et al., 2013). When the interests of the focal firm and its R&D collaborators are aligned well, it may effectively appropriate the benefits derived from the collaborative synergies. However, searching for new collaborators from ground zero is time- and cost-consuming; without prior collaborative experiences or relationships, the difficulties in deploying and transferring the existing knowledge of the focal firm will increase the opportunistic hazards because of unfamiliarity and less interest alignment, and even delay the time to market products or services. Therefore, when the focal firm is engaged in the incremental innovation through exploitative alliance to localize its products, it will be more inclined to collaborate with its internal stakeholders whom it is familiar with. This can be exemplified by the work of Rothaermel and Deeds (2004) on the biotechnological industry in which BioGen, a biotech firm, allies with the Schering-Plough, a pharmaceutical company, for commercializing its discovery. Hypothesis 2a: When a firm undertakes the exploitative learning, it will be more inclined to select its R&D collaborative partner from its internal stakeholders rather than external stakeholders in the host country. When the focal firm is to partner for the R&D collaboration under the exploratory